Showing posts with label truth in beauty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label truth in beauty. Show all posts

Friday, March 13, 2015

Art in the Form of Honey on Naked Bodies

NSFW. Naked people covered in honey. So obviously NSFW in an arty way. No, really - this is truly art. I love this.






(P.S.: 4 days in a row? I'm baaaack! I feel all tingly!)

Friday, February 04, 2011

Don't Click This: Tales of Hentai

Sometimes I land on a page (innocently, of course) and I am strangely interested or amazed or appalled or just shocked out of words. Can't share it with my biological family, so I'm tossing it at you.

Hentai: A Japanese slang word meaning perverted or perversion. In the world of manga and anime, hentai refers to the adult oriented titles that present extreme, graphic sexual imagery. A common Western stereotype concerning manga and anime is that these artforms are filled with graphic sex.

Yeah, it's kinda animated or illustrated porn and extremely NSW. And I told you not to click it, didn't I?

Tales of Hentai

Friday, October 29, 2010

Today's Brunette: Alexi Wasser

Alexi Wasser

You may know Alexi from a bit part in Cabin Fever 2 or her Peppermint Patties commercial. She's so lovely that she'll be picking up a part in a 30-minute comedy called Boycrazy on Showtime. Wonderful!

Thursday, July 01, 2010

Ladies & Comics: Dawn & Death

Based on some inspiration from Cal's fantastic blog post on Wonder Woman's new costume, there was a bit of discussion about the oversexualized women in comics (as one aspect of what keeps bringing the boys - and men - back) and I immediately thought of Dawn.

The series of different comics featuring Dawn, goddess of birth and rebirth, and her lover, Death is exactly what we describe when we talk about over-the-top eye candy. And the storylines weren't exactly the most brilliant writing in the comic world.






And in thinking about beauty and storytelling I was immediately drawn to a place I don't return nearly enough. When you take various artists and combine them with the sharp wit and brilliant writing of Niel Gaiman, you get Death, one of the Endless who pull the strings of existence.







Seriously, stare at the Dawn all you want, but if you haven't picked up the Sandman comics you are missing a true piece of literature.


...and then there's someone's take on the Little Mermaid. I have no reason or excuses.



Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Disney Heroines as Comic Book Heroines

No, I'm not kidding. Here's one of half a dozen.

Little Mermaid

Um...

Thursday, May 13, 2010

If You Forget Me

You know how this is:
if I look
at the crystal moon, at the red branch
of the slow autumn at my window,
if I touch
near the fire
the impalpable ash
or the wrinkled body of the log,
everything carries me to you,
as if everything that exists,
aromas, light, metals,
were little boats
that sail
toward those isles of yours that wait for me.

Well, now,
if little by little you stop loving me
I shall stop loving you little by little.

If suddenly
you forget me
do not look for me,
for I shall already have forgotten you.

If you think it long and mad,
the wind of banners
that passes through my life,
and you decide
to leave me at the shore
of the heart where I have roots,
remember
that on that day,
at that hour,
I shall lift my arms
and my roots will set off
to seek another land.

But
if each day,
each hour,
you feel that you are destined for me
with implacable sweetness,
if each day a flower
climbs up to your lips to seek me,
ah my love, ah my own,
in me all that fire is repeated,
in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten,
my love feeds on your love, beloved,
and as long as you live it will be in your arms
without leaving mine.


- Pablo Neruda

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

A Cave Girl for a Friend

I ran into this image today and it's called "Cave Girl" by Calvin Wong, a San Fran illustrator.

And I immediately thought "Cave? Calvin? Perfect!" This one's for you, Cal.

Calvin Wong's Cave Girl

Saturday, January 09, 2010

Mentalist Fight: Amanda and Robin

Mrs. Shambles and I watch The Mentalist with that strapping Aussie Simon Baker who was in that terrible show The Guardian that gave me a sad feeling in the pit of my stomach whenever I saw it listed on the DVR. Wait - did we have DVR back then? I don't know. I don't remember the cable situation then. I do remember the sad, empty feeling though.

Anyway, I was thinking about my previous post mentioning the Oliva Munn / Morgan Webb post from a while back, and then The Mentalist popped up. It's a good show, nothing like The Guardian.

So, readers, feel free to chime in: I'm not putting any qualifiers on it like fight or beauty. Who wins? Why?

Robin Tunney

Robin Tunney

or...

Amanda Righetti

Amanda Righetti


Personally? Well ...I'll let you mull over it and I'll update the post with my thoughts and any particularly clever comments next week.

Friday, December 11, 2009

3 Flavors Man Moment: Video Games, Politics, and Long-term Crushin'

Bayonetta

I'm playing the Xbox360 demo of Bayonetta. She's some supernatural witch-lady with a suit of hair, square-rimmed glasses, and a mole on her chin in a game that I'd characterize as entertaining and thoughtful button-mashing akin to Devil May Cry.

And then E3 happened:



Damn.


Mika Brzezinski

This is the real reason I watch MSNBC's Morning Joe. At least "Morning Mika" has some alliteration.




Ricci All Day Long

I've been crushing for forever. My wife knows about it. My friend teases me that she has a fivehead. But I can't let go. Just something about her.




Oh, I guess that's about all I need for a man moment right now. Ahhhh.

Next time: that magic tingle slightly fucked up teeth give me. Seriously. Patricia Arquette? Noms. And, of course, the tragedy that comes with orthodontics. Boo.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Van Mural Wednesday: Thursday Edition

You thought I forgot. And I did until late last night.

But that makes it what time? I can't hear you!

That's right: Daïquiri Time

Daiquiri Group

How can you tell that it's Daïquiri Time? The umlaut over the "i" is the first clue. The second is the seductive, lounging posture of the lady on the van. And third is the abundance of martini glasses both in the lady's hand and as a background element. Yay Daïquiri Time!


And as a bonus, here's a submission from Randal on the topic. I can't say it's a full-on van mural, but if our purpose here is to entertain, it fits the bill. If we count the level of suckitude, it even beats mine.

Van Mural American Magic

Thanks!

Friday, June 05, 2009

Van Mural Wednesday: Friday Edition

Bad news is I forgot Wednesday. Good news is you now only have 5 days to the next installment!

Hey, who's that fat kid wrestling a croc? Kinda looks like that Crocodile Hunter guy who was eaten by a swarm of zombie manta rays, but I can't seem to focus on the image. The scrawled web address is so blinding...

Croc Hunter

On the good side, can't say the Oz national flag even says Aussie Pride! that loudly.

Friday, May 29, 2009

There Was a Bat in my Shoe

Axcess Vernon
These are the shoes in question

bat
This is representative; I would not hold a wild bat.

Yesterday morning I was letting my dog in and I heard a sudden and incessant chirp-like noise followed by a brief flutter. I froze, wondering what kind of god-awful bug had made it into our home, and simultaneously spotted it: out of one of my shoes flopped a single bat wing.

OhmygodOhmygodOhmygodOhmygod - breathe!

I leaned over and grabbed the towel sometimes used to wipe off re-entering damp paws and as I slowly approached the shoe, towel held up half in defense, half in expectation of capture, it emerged, chirping, and took a couple fumbling flaps towards me. Like a teasing, shaking, fumbling toreador, I let out a sound that must've resembled a groaning dog and dodged the bat, which landed on the floor.

After a quick toss, a careful roll, and a short trip to the deck, I released our previous captive, who took quickly to the air.

Weirdest thing: the dog and cats were not acting weird or prodding at the shoe which - with a wild animal - I would've expected.

And the only thing I thought - and still think: dude, there was a fucking bat in my shoe.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Sweden's Lego Jesus Completed!

In October of '07 I wrote on how this church in Sweden was collecting Legos in order to copy this statue of Jesus. In Legos.

Thorvaldsen's Christus

Thanks to some of my fab readers, I've been informed that they have pulled it off, having revealed the Lego Jesus on Easter Sunday:

Lego Jesus Sweden

Over 30,000 bricks. Amazing. Good show!

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Science Tattoos, Without Research

If you are planning on getting a tattoo, at the first inkling, you must be thinking about your artist. Who is going to put permanent ink into your skin? You should probably not run out to the first tattoo shop you find.

Maybe I'm biased because when Mrs. Shambles and I were planning our matching pieces, we dug in deep and found Marty Holcomb working out of Columbus, a brilliant artist who was only taking ink jobs by appointment (yes, I'll add a pic of the finished piece within 2 days - promise).

But when I caught this bit on Discover's website, my first thoughts were "Oh, no, you didn't."

mediocre tattoo

Take the time. Check out Discover's Science Tattoo Emporium. And please, please realize that just because you have a brilliant idea doesn't mean the artist knows what you want or can execute it well.

The bigger the piece, the more research you need to do, the more portfolios you need to view, and know that there is never a better time to say "um, no" than when you see the mock-up of what they are planning. Walk away. Better a pissed-off artist than thousands to remove something you look at a week later and think "WTF?"

Which comes back to the demonstrated art bit. Never let any tattoo artist tell you "everyone I've ever inked has been happy." Of course they're happy, initially. They just let you put permanent ink into their skin. If they admitted to themselves that they were not happy, they would have to admit that they had made a grave mistake, and in the ever-looming interest of self-preservation, I would guess that 99.999% of people who get tattoos, no matter how horrendous, initially claim happiness with the work.

Boil it down, now: Research. If you're a scientist, research more. Find the name of an artist, an actual person. View many, many portfolios. Get a good representation of what will be on your skin. Then - and only then - commit.

Rinse and repeat times the speed of light.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

A Wish and a Hope for Obama

Inauguration Mall
Mall Madness

I look at those images, the Mall in D.C., not one patch of green visible in any direction, the smiling, excited faces, cheering and chanting, and my eyes well up. Partially because I'm excited too, and partially because I see these masses as I might see my own daughter, smitten with a new love.

And I just want to put my hand on his shoulder and say "You've already got our hearts. Please don't break them."

Can't wait for his speech. Because that Nazi Youth Pastor was a little over the top. Ooh, Aretha Franklin!

Friday, November 14, 2008

The Living Room Paint Parade

As noted on a previous post, here's the process and results of our living room.

Shambles Wall Painting 1
We did our best to get the right color


Shambles Wall Painting 2
Seriously, we did our best

Shambles Painting Priming
We had to prime first

Avocado Delight
Of course, this picture doesn't do justice to the green

Obviously, it started as some sort of golden ideal, but manifested in what we found as "Sour Lime" but after looking at it like to refer to it as "Avocado Delight."

The problem with painting any room is that you have to deal with the light that reflects off that paint and defines that color to your eye. Our living room is not exactly bright, except when the front door is opened. So we have "bright closed," "bright opened," "cloudy closed," and "cloudy opened." For the evening hours - as this was going all the way down the hall - we have incandescent and compact fluorescent bulb light. This, should you ever have a similar experience, creates 6 different versions of what you put on the wall.

I think we hit it right.

Thoughts?

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

My Favorite Painting in Cincinnati

Earlier this year, I visited the Cincinnati Art Museum for the first time in my life. And I fell in love. With this:

The Midnight Mass by Edward Timothy Hurley
The Midnight Mass by Edward Timothy Hurley

Much more impressive in person, this painting struck me. Done all in deep blues with white highlights, a town in silence, covered in snow. That night quiet, every echo and word and scream muffled by the coating of Winter, I felt peace. And quiet. And sadness. Sadness because the only color aside from the blue/white wash was that church window. The only warmth was the parish.

And I didn't want to be there.

I identified myself with the observer, because - obviously - someone had to paint it. Late, alone, in the cold, and outside. I am that guy. Not because I don't like gatherings or don't like church (not that I do), but because I know inherently that I am not one of those people, in the cold, gathered in the church, at midnight. There is much more important work to do.

I just hope Hurley had a friend or two to drink a late glass of wine with while painting this.

No.

A friend to see it afterwords. The painting was created alone. Quietly. With aid of a heavy coat and the padding of snow.

This is not the Grinch hearing the song of the Whos, but reality: no malice, no anger, but a somber realization that sometimes, just sometimes, it's okay to be alone, to be quiet, and to enjoy it.

Love it.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Skylar's Art of Five

My niece, Skylar, recently turned 5. She's always handing out drawings, but for some reason I had to talk her into letting me keep this one.

Captions requested as I can't quite get my head around the Gestalt of the thing.

Skylar's Drawing

Friday, August 22, 2008

I Can Fly!

Zoo Turtle

Yes. Yes, you can.

When we were in Columbus, we went to the Columbus Zoo. Many more aminal pictures to come, along with some choice words about crowds and stupid people.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Weighted Companion Cube

I spend a good deal of my "free time" playing video games, but my enjoyment for series like Final Fantasy lead me to being a little behind (I own but have not finished FFXII, God of War II, Kingdom Hearts for PS2). And then I went and bought an Xbox 360. I got the Orange Box (game). I played Portal.

Weighted companion cube

Stage 17 - Never Forget.

[sigh]

UPDATE:
look at me still talking
when there's science to do...

UPDATE II:
Not to be too dense, the words above are lyrics displayed from the original musical recording played while the lyrics and credits run after you complete the game. The following video is a recording of the finishing song. Creepy and hilarious.
I'm not even angry.
I'm being so sincere right now.
Even though you broke my heart.
And killed me.
And tore me to pieces.
And threw every piece into a fire.
As they burned it hurt because
I was so happy for you!



This game was one of my top 5 ever, a black comedy that I have yet to conclude (after finishing, I still have achievements and advanced levels to beat).

And please, should anyone read the words "black comedy" and feel the urge to play the game and write a script, either quell that urge with beautiful booze or put a bullet in your head.